Google buys part of HTC

Thursday, 21 September 2017 14:48
Written by Jason

Well I guess the rumors were true, Google has bought up part of HTC for a cool $1.1 billion. It appears like the deal is for the division that is responsible for producing the Pixel phones, which of course makes sense for Google to be the one to buy that part of the company. Compared to when Google bought up Motorola, the HTC deal seems like a pretty good deal and since the Pixel phone has been very well received this ensures that someone else doesn't scoop up the development team from HTC. The Wall Street Journal has the details.

If nothing else, Google’s deal with HTC should settle the question of whether it is serious about making its own phones.

Not that $1.1 billion is a heavy sum for a company with nearly $91 billion in net cash on hand. Alphabet Inc.’s Google actually spent 12 times as much six years ago to buy Motorola Mobility. But that purchase was more about acquiring patents than about dabbling in phone hardware, and Google got out three years later, after Motorola racked up a cumulative pretax operating loss of $2.7 billion.

The deal with HTC announced Thursday is very different—and less risky. For its $1.1 billion, Google is getting the large HTC team that helped develop Google’s first branded smartphone, the Pixel, launched late last year. The Pixel drew strong reviews, but its success has been constrained by production problems. IDC estimates Google has sold about 2.8 million of the smartphones globally, which would translate into a market share of about 0.2%.